Over 8 Million Citizen in Yemen at Risk of Starvation due to US-Saudi Siege

As US-Saudi Aggression closed Yemen’s vital port city of Hodeidah, Amnesty International has accused them of possible war crimes over interference with deliveries of food, fuel, and aid. More than 8 million people in Yemen are at risk of starvation and aid groups fear the battle for Hodeidah, which receives most of the aid and commercial supplies shipped into Yemen, could have widespread and fatal consequences.

Doctors in capital Sana’a said in reports that pharmacies across Sana’a were already struggling with a critical shortage of specialist drugs, would be unable to treat cancer, diabetes and renal failure patients if the US-Saudi siege continued.

International Aid groups say they have not been able to deliver medical and humanitarian assistance to the people in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, due to Riyadh’s ongoing war in the country. Becky Abdullah, an official with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Yemen, told Press TV in an email that the ongoing Saudi-led military campaign has made it difficult for humanitarian groups, including NRC, to reach out to displaced people in need.

“We experience restrictions on our movements and the ongoing violence makes it difficult to provide lifesaving assistance. While trying to assist other Yemenis in need, our staff on the ground are deeply concerned about their own families and friends”, Bakr Abdullah said.

The Saudi-led war continues to affect civilians in Yemen in the worst possible way. “Attacks on civilians are on the rise and the ongoing conflict, economic deterioration and collapse of public services and infrastructure have left over 22 million Yemenis in need of aid and protection”, Bakr added.

Thousands of Yemenis are left with no safe means of transport outside the country as a result of the ongoing closure of Sana’a International Airport. Equally, many civilians are prevented from traveling to seek medical help outside of Yemen due to the blockade, which costs the lives of many.

Abdullatef Abu-Taleb, the director of the Al-Thawra hospital in Sana’a, said that the dialysis center of the medical center is in dire need of medical supplies.

“We are in dire needs for spare parts for maintenance operations of the dialysis devices”, he said.

Yemen’s Health Ministry called on the United Nations and the UN Security Council to do their duty to help lift the blockade and dispatch life-saving medical supplies to Yemeni patients and those wounded in the Saudi-led airstrikes and to transfer all those in need of treatment abroad urgently.

Minister of Public Health Ministry and Population, Taha al Mutwakel, has called for the opening of Sana’a International Airport, which has been closed for about two years, in order for the survivors of the Saudi-led airstrikes to travel abroad for treatment.